ABSTRACT
More than 40 % of the world's population is at risk of being infected with malaria. Most malaria cases occur in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America, and Asia. Resistance to standard therapy, including artemisinin combinations, is increasing. There is an urgent need for novel antimalarials with new mechanisms of action. In a phenotypic screen, we identified a series of phenylalanine-based compounds that exhibit antimalarial activity via a new and yet unknown mechanism of action. Our optimization efforts culminated in the selection of ACT-451840 [(S,E)-N-(4-(4-acetylpiperazin-1-yl)benzyl)-3-(4-(tert-butyl)phenyl)-N-(1-(4-(4-cyanobenzyl)piperazin-1-yl)-1-oxo-3-phenylpropan-2-yl)acrylamide] for clinical development. Herein we describe our optimization efforts from the screening hit to the potential drug candidate with respect to antiparasitic activity, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) properties, and inâ vivo pharmacological efficacy.
Subject(s)
Acrylamides/pharmacology , Antimalarials/pharmacology , Drug Discovery , Malaria/drug therapy , Piperazines/pharmacology , Plasmodium falciparum/drug effects , Acrylamides/chemical synthesis , Acrylamides/chemistry , Antimalarials/chemical synthesis , Antimalarials/chemistry , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Molecular Structure , Parasitic Sensitivity Tests , Piperazines/chemical synthesis , Piperazines/chemistry , Structure-Activity RelationshipABSTRACT
Addition of 5-alkylaminopenta-2,4-dienals onto N-acyliminium ions, generated in situ from α-hydroxycarbamates derived from pyrrolidine or piperidine, in the presence of zinc triflate, followed by dehydrative cyclization, allowed the formation of pyridinium salts substituted at their 3-position by a five- or six-membered nitrogen heterocycle. Subsequent N-dealkylation of the pyridinium moiety and deprotection of the secondary amine or reduction of the carbamate function led to (±)-nicotine and analogs.
